Bag-printing mechanism



F. LOMBARDO.

BAG PRINTJNG MECHANISM. APPucAndu man JULY 26.1920.

.Patented Sept. 5, 1922.-

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. LOMBARDOQ BAG PRINTING MECHANISM.

- APPLICATION FILED 1ULY 26 $920. 1 ,427,905 v PatentedSept. 5, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

k :r Q

F. LOMBARDO. BAG PRINTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26,1920.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

SUGAR 'REFINING Cm. NEWYDRK A TTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 5, i922,

FRANK LOMBARDO, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, AESIGNOR PERCY KENT COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BAG-PRINTING MECHANISM. 7

Application filed July 26, 1920. Serial No. 399,067.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK LoMBAnDo, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, in the borough of Brooklyn and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bag-Printing lt Iechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to the art of bag printing and making and has especial appl cation to the manufacture of cloth bags.

' In making such bags it is common practice first run a web of cloth through a folding machine of the Elliott and Hall type, which arranges the web in folds the length of abag section, and then to cut the folded web transversely along the median line, thus producing twice as many folded bag sections as there are folds of material. These stacks of folded bag sections are then unfolded and run through a printing press and from the print ing rolls they are taken by an automatic folder and again folded double ready for sewing. The edges of such bag sections are not so even as they were directly after the cutting, and are more or less frayed and disarranged, particularly with coarse material, such as burlap or the like, with the result that the speed of the operators of the sewing machines is considerably reduced by the ne cessity of arranging the edges of the folded bag section evenly together. It is. a well known fact that unprinted bags direct from the cutting operation can be sewed considerably faster than can the printed and refolded bags.

An object of my invention is to provide a apparatus for printing and making the bags which will avoid the necessity of unfolding the bag sections after the cutting operation, and will enable the folded sections to be sewed. as they are cut.

Still other objects and advantages of myinvention will appear from the following description. I

In accordance with my invention I first print alternately upon opposite sides of a web of material at spacedintervals correspondin to the length of a bag section, and I then told the printed web upon itself at the middle of eachbag section. Then rear half section will have its inscription upon the side of the web opposite to that of the inscription immediately preceding and followingit.

In order to minimize waste in cutting I prefer to fold the printed webs in lengths equal to a bag section, thereby permitting the folded pile to be cut transversely through the middle to separate the folded bag sections. I

My invention also comprehends two reversely arranged printing couples in tandem and constructed so that, as the web is run through them, one will print every other bag section upon one side and the other will print the intermediate bag sections upon the opposite side. I have found a press of the construction illustrated to be satisfactory, in which the couples are spaced a distance equal to the length of a bag section and the printing cylinder has a peripheral length equal to the length of a bag section, while the impression cylinder is of double the diameter of the printing cylinder. Since in most cases the inscription appears upon one side only of the finished bag, I have shown the printing plate as occupying one half of the circumference of the printing cylinder. In order to accommodate a plate occupying the entire surface of the printing cylinder, I have shown the impression surface as one half of the circumference of the impression cylinder, though only one quarter of the circumference serves as an impression surface in the arrangement illustrated. The con struction of impression cylinder shown also provides better balance.

l Vith such a press it is manifest that each printing couple will print uponevery fourth half bag section, the printed half sections alternating with blank half sections and the alternate ones being printed on opposite sides of the material.

The folding mechanism may be part of the press or the printed web maybe run on to the speed of the press is not too rapid for accurately :tolding into the relatively short lengths, the web will be folded into the proper lengths for cutting as it comes from the printing rolls.

1 shall now describe the apparatus shown in the accompanying drawings, but it will be understood that this is merely illustrative and that modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is an elevation 01" the apparatus;

Fi 2 is a diagrammatic representation in sectional elevation of the parts necessary to illustrate the operation of the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic representation in plan of the parts illustrated in Fig. 2;

Fig. t is a side elevation, more or less diagrammatic in character, of a folded pile oi material after being cut, and a suitable truck or conveyer for the same;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section of abag after being sewed;

Fig. 6- is a plan of the same before turning, and

Fig. 7 is a plan of the same after turning.

Power is supplied to the illustrated ap paratus from a pulley 1 on a counter shaft 2. The rotation is imparted to the cylinders of the printing couples from a pulley 3 driven by belt l from pulley 1. The first printing couple consists of the printing cylinder 5 and the impression cylinder 6, and the second printing couple consists of the printing cylinder 7 and the impression cylinder 8. The first couple is arranged to print upon the top of the web and the second couple is arranged to print upon the bottom of the web. The two couples are driven continuously at the same speed and in the same direction as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, through suitable gearing. The ratio of the diameter of the printing cylinder to the impression cylinder in each couple is 1:2, one-half of the surface ot the impression cylinders being arranged as an impression surface, while the printing plates couple is 1 2, one-halt of the surface of the printing cylinders. The printing couples together with the drive pulley 3 with its shaft and connecting gearing are supported on a suitable frame The printing couples are spaced apart a distance equal to the length of a section of the web from which a bag will be made when the web is cut up and which 1 term a bag section.

The web 10 is drawn from a bale or pile on a truck 11 and passes first through feeding rollers 12 supported on a stanchion 1.3 and driven by a belt 14 from pulley 1. Thence it passes over a pan 15, also sup ported on the stanchion 13, thence over a guide board 16 and idler roller 17, thence under an idler roller 18, and thence through the two printing couples. In this way, as

the web passes through the press it is printed on its top side at intervals equivalent to every fourth halt bag section, and it is also printed on its underside at corresponding intervals and on h alt hag sections intermediate those printed on the top side. For example, the first halt bag section at the leading end of the web will receive an imprint on its top side, the next h alt bag section will be blank, the next half bag section will be printed by the second couple on its bottom side, the next half bag section will be blank, the next hal t bag section will be printed again by the first printing couple, and so on.

T have shown in the illustrated mechanism means for folding the web as it is printed and it will be understood that these folds may or may not correspond in length with a section. If they do not so correspond, then the printed web will be run through a toldingmachine of the Elliott and Hall type for the purpose of folding them to the proper length. From the advance printing couple the web passes over an idler 19 and thence over a tension roll 20 the surface of which is provided with pins and which is driven by a sprocket chain 21 which connects a sprocket wheel 22 on the tension roll 20 with a sprocket wheel on the printing cylinder 7. From the tension roll 20 the web passes underneath an idler roll 24- and thence upward over an idler roll supported on a stanchion 26 and thence through "teed rolls 2? also supported on the stanchion 26- and driven by belt 28 from pulley 1. From the feed rolls 2? the web passe downward through the oscillating member of the folding mechanism. This oscillating member is pivoted to swing on the shaft of the lower feed roller 27 and has two spaced guide plates between which the web passes. The oscillating member 29 is oscillated by a crank 30. which is arranged on a transverse shaft 31 having its hearings in depending arms from the stanchion 26, and the crank is connected to the oscillating member 29 by means of the connecting rod 32. The crank shaft 31 is driven by apulley 33 which is connected by a belt 3 to a pulley 35 on the shaft of the lower teed roll 27. The length of the fold will be regulated by the length of the oscillating member 29 and the frequency of the oscillating movement will be regulated to take care of the web as it is fed to the folding mechanism.

When the final folding operation is completed the pile will be arranged as shown in Fig. l, after which it will be cut transversely through the center, as shown, thus dividing the folded pile into two piles of folded. bag sections 36 with the printed inscription on the inside of the lower half of each bag section. This printed inscription is indicated in Fig. 4 by the dotted lines.

It will be observed that in the pile illustrated the leading half bag section was printed on its top, the next half bag section was left blank, the next half bag section was printed on its bottom, the next half bag section was left blank, the next half bag section was again printed on the top, and so on. In the folding this brings the bag sections with the printing arranged as above described.

The cut edges are now perfectly true and even and the bags now pass through the sewing operation without being again disturbed.

In Fig. 5 is illustrated in transverse section a bag after it has been sewed. In order to prevent fraying or raveling along the cut edge it is customary to turn the two raw edges back and sew through the four thicknesses of material as illustrated. It is un necessary to do this along the end since that edge is not a raw edge. \Vhen the sewing operation is completed the bag appears as 1 shown in Fig. 6, after which it is turned inside out, thus bringing the seams on the inside and the printed inscription on the outside.

I claim:

1. A bag printing machine comprising two rotary printing couples spaced apart substantially the length of a bag section and arranged to print upon opposite sides of a web, the periphery of the printing cylinder of each couple being substantially equal to the length of a bag section and the co-operative impression cylinder having a diameter twice that of the printing cylinder and having an impression surface for no more than half of its circumference, and means for feeding a web through the couples, whereby the couples print upon opposite sides of alternate bag sections of the web.

2. A bag printing machine comprising two printing couples arranged to print upon opposite sides of a web, means for feeding a web through the two couples, means for bringing the printing couples into printing relation with alternate bag sections of the web, and means for folding the printed web upon itself at the middle of each bag section.

3. A bag printing machine comprising two printing couples arranged to print upon opposite sides of a web, means for feeding a web through the two couples, means for bringing one couple into printing relation with every fourth half bag section of the web, means for bringing the other couple into printing relation with every fourth halfbag section of the web intermediate those printed by the first couple, and means for folding the printed web upon itself at the middle of each bag section in folds substantially the length of a bag section.

4. A. bag printing machine comprising two rotary printing couples spaced apart substantially the length of a bag section and arranged to print upon opposite sides of a web, the periphery of the printing cylinder of each couple being substantially equal to the length of a bag section and the cooperative impression cylinder having a diameter twice that of the printing cylinder and having an impression surface for no more than half of its circumference, means for feeding a web through the couples, whereby the couples print upon opposite sides of alternate bag sections of the web, and means for folding the printed web upon itself at the middle of each bag section in folds substantially the length of a bag section.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my signature.

FRANK LOMBARDO. 

